Lucius Marinus
Admiral Lucius Marinus was an Imperial naval officer who served as the First Space Lord of the Admiralty during the 39th Millennium. Biography Early career Besides that he hailed from the Hive World of Altyr, virtually nothing is known of his early life by the 41st Millennium until he was accepted into the Regiis Imperatoris Naval College. He graduated from the prestigious institution with high marks at the age of 17. Instructors and other cadets alike noted that Marinus was regarded as a genius, and the other young junior officers were in awe of him. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as a lieutenant and posted aboard the Cobra-class destroyer Ira as the chief navigation officer. During this time Marinus took part in naval operations during the Angevin Crusade, arriving at the front in 327.M39. Several years of fighting had already occurred, and Marinus would distinguish himself in battle, eventually being promoted to lieutenant commander and given command of the Claymore-class corvette Syrus—one of the first vessels the new class, created to replace the heavy losses among Imperial frigate squadrons during the Angevin Crusade. Although the new vessel was unpopular among the conservative officer corps, Marinus committed himself to his new role as the captain of Syrus. He and the rest of the crew distinguished themselves in battle by protecting the Crusade's long supply trains from pirate and xenos raids. Marinus gained a reputation for his bold and reckless yet highly successful tactics, using the corvette's smaller size but strong armor and armament to carry out damging close-quarters attacks on larger enemy vessels. By 332.M39 Marinus had been promoted to commander, and in 335.M39 he was assigned as the chief of staff of the 51st Escort Squadron. As the chief staff officer, he advised his commanding officer, the squadron leader, to use small-unit tactics with frigates and corvettes to take out individual larger and more heavily armed vessels. In 340.M39 he was promoted to captain and given a staff assignment at the expeditionary fleet supreme headquarters. This caused some concern in the Battlefleet assigned to the Crusade as Marinus had become a popular officer. During the subsequent campaigns beginning around 341, Captain Marinus would spend much of his time doing staff work as the flag captain to the Battlefleet commander-in-chief, High Admiral Vaakkon. He proved to be an adept administrator and in 344.M39, despite his own protests as he wished to remain at the front, the naval officer was reassigned to Terra. Admiralty There he was made part of the Operations Division of the Admiralitatis War Staff. In this role he took part in operational planning for the Imperial Navy's different operations throughout the galaxy. In 357, Lucius Marinus became the Assistant Director of Operations. During this he encouraged other naval commanders to use the tactic of using packs of smaller escort ships to destroy enemy cruisers and other large vessels. In 365 he was promoted to Rear Admiral and given the honorary title of Naval Aide-de-camp to the Emperor (in practice holders of the title usually advised the Lord High Admiral of the Navy). It was not until 374.M39 that Marinus was promoted to Vice Admiral and became Director of Operations. He did not remain in that position for long as in 376 Lucius Marinus was promoted to full Admiral and appointed First Space Lord, Chief of the Admiralty War Staff. In his position, Admiral Marinus was most remembered by future generations for reforming the Admiralty. In 377 he formed a separate Plans Division that was responsible for long term strategic planning, separately from the Operations Division. He believed that strategic planning was distinct from operational. He also created the Trade Division of the War Staff in 379, which began coordinating the Navy's supply and logistics network with the Merchant Fleets of the Imperium. Besides that, his tenure as the First Space Lord was largely uneventful for the rest of his career. Admiral Marinus died in 403.M39. Service record Promotions *Lieutenant – 324.M39 *Lieutenant Commander – 329.M39 *Commander – 332.M39 *Captain – 340.M39 *Rear Admiral – 365.M39 *Vice Admiral – 374.M39 *Admiral – 376.M39 Posts *Chief Navigation Officer, Destroyer Ira *Officer Commanding, Corvette Syrus *Chief of Staff, 51st Escort Squadron *Flag Captain to the Angevin Crusade Fleet Commander *Operations Staff Officer, Admiralty War Staff *Assistant Director of Operations, Admiralty War Staff *Director of Operations, Admiralty War Staff *First Space Lord Awards *Naval Aide-de-camp to the Emperor (honorary title) Category:Imperial Characters